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Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

August 21, 2019, 12:17:26 am

In process of a remodel, and it is time to make a decision on the walls in the living area and bedroom.  The PO's smoked and not sure if that is the direct cause, but the wall paper is really stained/discolored in all exposed areas.  I have seen in SOB's that owners have painted over the wall paper.  I'm not doing that.

My initial thought was to buy some white Formica or laminate - same material that is on the walls of the bathroom.  It would really brighten the space and make the walls easy to clean.  I have decided against this method for the living area due to the quantity of windows - I would have so much waste and it would require all the windows to be removed fully to install and then cut out the material I applied to the walls.  The area that I am looking to paint is the slide out walls (big wall and end walls), the wall next to the drivers seat, and the wall from the front door to the kitchen counter top on the passenger side.  The kitchen wall will get white subway tile as a backsplash.

I am thinking I will remove the wall paper, fill all holes and sand the wood, apply a primer and then sand again.  Maybe a high fill primer in order to smooth out the wood texture?  It may require a couple of primer and sand processes as the wood is quite striated.  Anyone have any experience painting the wood paneling behind the wall paper?  Am I out to lunch?  Any better suggestions? The end result is to have bright white walls that are easy to clean.  It is amazing how much dust accumulates inside the coach and I feel this has contributed to the staining of the porous wall paper surface.

Thanks in advance,

Evan

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #1 – August 21, 2019, 01:08:43 am

Here you go. The Walker family would be the folks to ask.
 New RV TOUR with the New Look!

I would think that buying or renting a steamer would facilitate the removal of any wall paper. If you paint over smoke stained wall paper. You might have to paint a base coat of kilz so the smoke stains won't bleed through.

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #2 – August 21, 2019, 07:56:30 am

Is it actually wallpaper or did Foretravel use pre finished panels in which case it would be some sort of bonded finish?
If it's wallpaper they would not have anticipated anyone removing it and most likely would not have used sizing on the paneling before installing the wallpaper which means that removal may well rip the surface off even with a steamer.

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #3 – August 21, 2019, 03:38:28 pm

The "wall paper" comes off with ease.  Unsure of the bonding sequence, but no steamer is required.  The wallpaper is a very very heavy duty material, wall paper may not be the right terminology for the material used.  It's almost like a vinyl material. 

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #4 – September 27, 2019, 04:21:30 pm

We did not removed the wallpaper, just painted over it. Really has brightened up the coach. 

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #5 – September 27, 2019, 06:27:19 pm

We like color so we painted the wall paper in the kitchen. I think we will do more painting, if we don't like it we can rip it off.  We also like change.

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #6 – September 27, 2019, 06:31:16 pm

For those who painted, exactly what steps/products did you use.

THAT will benefit those who want to follow in your footsteps.

Thanks.

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Re: Has anyone removed Wall Paper & Painted the Wood

Reply #7 – September 27, 2019, 07:00:21 pm

I have painted the walls in 3 FT coach's and all I did was wipe them down with tsp and water, then clear water let dry and used a enamel primer before top coat. You can also use latex paints as they are really good these days and have taken over from enamel paints these days.
Prep is the key.
JohnH

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